Feb Challenge

I'm very happy that we particiated in this little experiment. I am even a bit proud that we made it through the whole month. Besides the obvious benefit of saving money - I think this challenge reminded me how a smaller budget doesn't necessarily mean you have to eat worse. The meats we bought may not have been the best quality, but I enjoyed homecooked meals such as veal ragu, flounder, and pork dumplings. Even a simple dish of rice, kimchi, and a can of sardines worked for me and also reminded me how much I missed eating rice for at least one meal each day.
 
There were, of course, some regrettable misses. I should not have eaten as much packaged Japanese curry as I did - that stuff is loaded with artificial ingredients and took its toll on my stomach. Our stop by Wendy's was also not good. I'm no food snob, but their rubbery chicken sandwich and defrosted baked potato reminded me why I steer clear of fast food joints.
 
So what's going to happen next? Mel and I already went straight for bagels on March 1. We also did Sidecar for dinner and shared a soup, salad and burger there. Not to mention Kunjip, which we hit up as soon as midnight struck the night before. But in showing our learned lessons, we went grocery shopping and Mel made a sardine pasta sauce for me to take to work for dinner. I also packed a turkey sandwich for lunch. I think it'll be easy enough to keep packing lunch and dinners during the week. We also bought a case of beer, one luxury we solely missed during February. Instead of forking over five, six bucks per beer at a bar, we'll happily drink our under $2 bottles at home (although we'll definitely indulge in happy hour deals).
 
This challenge confirmed my feeling that I've been too haphazard with my money. It's not that I was wrong for wanting to satisfy my cravings at various restaurants. I was just not discerning enough about how to best use my money to get the most out of every meal (too many mediocre $40 meals). Hopefully a more cost-conscious approach will help me make better dining decisions while also letting me enjoy more homecooked meals.

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The clock struck 12 last night, and the first thing we did was to go
to one of our favorite Korean Restaurants to have a feast.
 
We had:
- Pan jeon (Korean pancakes)
- Sagol Haejang Guk (Spicy ox-bone and ox-blood stew)
- Kimchi Chigae (Kimchi stew with pork)
- Sang Sam Kyup Sal Gui (Grilled pork belly)
 
They hit the spot!

So long Feb-challenge.

     

Click here to download:

Its_March.zip (6421 KB)

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Time blew by me the last few days. I have been very busy and have not
had time to update on my feb-challenege. I will take this time to give
you the last glance of my meals and wrap up this challenge with a
paragraph on my experience.
 
Few new items I made since Gumbo Night:
- Carrot Chutney
- *Deconstructed Chicken Salad with Balsamic Vinegar (I took out the
ingredients of a chicken sandwich I made earlier and made a salad with
it. I deconstructed the sandwich because the bread was too dense and
the ingredients were horribly assembled. I didn't know making a
sandwich could be sort of difficult, and more on that later on
www.sweatyguineapig.posterous.com)
- Brownies with Baked Marshmallow
- *I Love my iFS Granola and Cheerios!
- *Chicken Teriyaki BTC (Bacon, Tomatoes, and Cucumbers.)
- French Toast with Banana Marshmallow Skewers
- *Bahn Mi Thit Nuong (Vietnamese Sandwiches with Roasted Pork)
 
* meals made with business expanse.
 
Week 4 purchases:
- 1/2 dozen organic eggs: $3.39.
 
Total money left: $ -3.14...I didn't quite make the 50-dollar challenge.
 
So...Peter, Melanie, Sei-Wook, and I have made it! And each one of us
survived this challenge without completely going insane...ahh what a
wonderful feeling to look at our credit card bills and only see 3
digits on there! Although I really wanted to prove that I could spend
the least amount of money (I did have an advantage in terms of time,
and I also had a fully stocked pantry) in February, it wasn't about
pride anymore towards the end of the challenge (maybe I was a little
tired of planning everyday and not being able to use top notch
ingredients). I looked at this challenge as a lesson on managing money
and not taking ingredients for granted - I started a worm bin so I
could feed the worms with my kitchen scraps. I didn't mind to splurge
myself with organic chicken eggs, organic milk, or fine cocoa powder
for hot chocolate. I made sure that I didn't overeat and toss excess
food. In addition, I didn't mind eating same type of food few days in
a row because it was made with a lot of effort and love. I embraced
eating gourmet meals more than ever!
 
What about you guys?

             

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Day_2528_Sprint_to_the_End_Zon.zip (12564 KB)

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Before I lose my receipts, here's a quick update on my finances:

 Spent $1.78 at C-Town for an onion and green pepper (still have these)
Spent $2.49 at Food Emporium for a baguette (ate for lunch on Fri)

 ---------------------------
Budget remaining: $7.17

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Craving sweets, I made cupcakes from scratch.  With no confectioners sugar in the house, I whipped up a bowl of brown sugar icing (which is basically caramel).  It's too sweet for me since you can't adjust the sugar.  It did, however, satisfy our sweet tooth.

One big package of Perdue drumsticks and thighs (the free range equivalent was triple the price) is keeping us going.   A lot of curry, beans, rice, and Andre champagne (leftover from NYE 2008 and 2009) summarizes our week.  You can tell it's our last week, huh?  More on the week here.

   

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Day_26_Sweet_Tooth.zip (435 KB)

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This is Pete's accounting.

Scallions $0.39
Cilantro $0.59
Curry sauce $3.69
Kimchi $6.99 (we got cheated out of $2!  It was supposed to be $4.99.)
Napa cabbage $1.16
2 lbs. of ground pork $2.74
Dumpling skins $1.49

Total $17.05

2 poblano peppers $0.82
Perdue chicken legs, quartered $3.07 (couldn't afford free range, sigh)
Sour cream $1.49
3 lb. bag of rice $4.99

Total $10.37

~1 lb. ground pork $1.31
2 cans of sardines $2.38
Rice $4.99

Total $8.68

Wook's dumpling portion +$2

Money leftover $0.86
Combined with my money $1.29

Saturday: Dumpling night
Sunday: Pesto
Monday: Curry chicken
Tuesday: Vegetarian stuffed peppers
Wednesday: Spaghetti a la vodka
Thursday: Honey soy chicken and napa cabbage cole slaw
Friday: No idea! (Grilled cheese and tomato soup?)
Saturday: No idea! (Fried rice??)

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I spent $7.38 on dumpling skins and a pound of ground pork to make dumplings. I ran out of meat so was only able to make 60 dumplings (need more cabbage next time).  I have enough left to share with Pete tomorrow for lunch. As we near a close, here's my plan for the next few days:
 
Thursday
Lunch: dumplings
DInner: fajita leftovers, spend $3.50 on pork, make more dumplings
 
Friday
Lunch: dumplings
Dinner: spend $2.00 on peppers and onions to make more fajitas
 
Saturday
Lunch: fajita leftovers
Dinner: make something with the ~$5.94 left
 
-------------------------
Budget remaining: $11.44

     

Click here to download:

Day_25_Dumplings.zip (1179 KB)

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Say it out loud...GUMBO! There's just something about the word, and of
course, the dish as well. Gumbo is a dish influenced by French,
Spanish, and African cuisine. As you may guessed, the flavor is
complex and sophisticated. I have never made gumbo previously, but I
just had to do it last night since it was Mardi gras.
 
And if you are curious...I have gone over my limit of 50 dollars
(still under 100 dollars though). I failed.
 
My gumbo was only slightly close to authentic ones. Although I made my
roux (not dark enough) slowly and attentively, I didn't have all the
authentic gumbo ingredients, such as shell fish, green pepper (I used
leftover red bell pepper), celery (again, leftover fennel), andouille,
and shell fish stock (I am missing a lot of stuff after all). But I
did add a lot of flavors to my gumbo by adding kielbasa, cayenne
pepper, paprika, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic.
 
I am happy with the gumbo I made. It's aromatic and smoky...reminds me
of Taiwanese food, which I miss very much. Gumbo is also very thick,
which is the perfect dish in February when the weather is still brutal
outside in New Jersey.
 
I will get the proper ingredients and cook gumbo correctly next time
when I actually have some money to splurge.

       

Click here to download:

Day_24_Dinner_Gumbo.zip (6681 KB)

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Hooray! It's Mardi Gras...and pancake day! Well, I wasn't going to get
drunk, so I thought that I'd celebrate (and I am not even a
Christian.) by making myself an awesome pancake for breakfast. I used
simple pancake recipe, which keeps every ingredient in the unit of 1
(e.g. 1 cup of flour, 1 egg...etc). I did add a little more baking
powder to help the batter rise. It was a pleasant way to start a new
day! On the side, I had hot chocolate with homemade marshmallow. Was
it worth the money to make my own marshmallow? Probably not, but it
was a great experience to work with sugar and syrup, and I'd do it
again...again...and again.

     

Click here to download:

Day_24_Breakfast_Pan_that_Cake.zip (5371 KB)

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I spent $12.14 to buy fajita ingredients last night. The money I saved by using chicken (1.99/lb) and green peppers I spent on a bag of tortilla chips.  I have a half pound of raw chicken and lots of tortillas left...
 
------------------------
Budget remaining: $18.82

   

Click here to download:

Day_24_Some_more_fajitas.zip (883 KB)

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